Lazy days of Summer means another round of double postings. Starting things off with some Power Metal. Jon Oliva's Pain picks up where Savatage left off in the mid 90's. Featuring the mainman of Savatage, Jon Oliva's Pain can be seen as sort of what if Savatage never broke up. Of course Jon claims Savatage never did break up it just simply morphed into Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Which given the direction the bnd was headed at the time is sort of true.'Maniacal Renderings' is JOP's second album and features songs based off riffs from the old days of Savatage, hence why the late Criss Oliva gets writing credits on the tracks. This album is really a good slice of American Power Metal. It still shows off Jon's vocals mixed with epic imagery and solid guitars. If ya dug the mid period Savatage records then this is one you should check out.
Like the majority of Americans I really like Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I've seen em on a few occasions and always marvel at the level of work they continue to do with the live shows. And most people don't realize that TSO basically came out of Savatage. Albums like 'Hall Of The Mountain King' and 'Gutter Ballet' paved the way for TSO. So naturally picking up something like JOP for me is a natural progression. It's good epic American Power Metal and while it may not have the epic chorus parts like the Euro counterparts in the genre, it's still meant to be played in front of a large crowd. The band has released a few more albums and continues on despite the recent passing of their Guitarist. Given the immense talent of Criss Oliva and the tapes left behind, I'm sure there will be plenty more JOP albums in the future.
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